Ron Barbaro
Inducted 2002

Born on October 28, 1931 in Ottawa, Ron Barbaro later moved to Windsor where he entered the insurance industry in 1955, working for North American selling life insurance door-to-door.

In 1970, Ron established Win-Bar, a private insurance brokerage firm in Toronto. It was a one-stop insurance agency. Ron stayed there for 15 years and served as its president.

Ron was made president of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, Canadian operations, in November 1985. Mr Barbaro's invention of the "Living Benefit"
was something he invented while at Prudential and is now almost an industry standard worldwide with most other insurance companies implementing there versions of "living Benefits."

Ron tried retirement in 1994. However, this was short-lived. He began working again, this time as a director of the investment banking firm; Clairvest Group Inc. in Toronto.

In 1998, Ron became president and CEO of the Ontario Casino Corp. In April 2000, the Ontario Casino Corp. and the Ontario Lottery Corp. amalgamated and Ron became chairman and CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

Barbaro has always been a very active member of his community. One of the toughest sales Barbaro ever made was bringing the first ever Giant Panda exhibit to Canada from Asia when he was chairman of the board for the Metro Toronto Zoo.

In response to the AIDS crisis, while working there, he pioneered the development of the company’s living benefit, a policy option that enables policyholders who are terminally ill to collect life insurance benefits while they are still living.

Barbaro has also co-chaired the Metro Toronto Santa Claus Parade since 1982.

Throughout his career, Ron has received many awards and distinctions. On May 10, 2000, he received the "Outstanding Contribution to the Canadian Gaming Industry" award at the Canadian Gaming Conference’s annual dinner in Winnipeg.

Barbaro was also presented with a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree from Eastern College, Philadelphia, in 1992, in recognition of his significant, positive contribution to the business world.

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